


Pumpkin Anniversary

by Paleotoons



Category: Steven Universe (Cartoon)
Genre: F/F, Hurt/Comfort, Steven Universe Future, Steven Universe Future Spoilers
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-03-29
Updated: 2020-03-29
Packaged: 2021-02-28 21:35:18
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 2,644
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23374009
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Paleotoons/pseuds/Paleotoons
Summary: After being on the road for over a year, Steven finally decides to visit Beach City to see how everyone's doing. However, his anxiety starts to rise when he feels people are being overly cautious around him, and the only people he can visit are Lapis and Peridot, who seem to be having issues of their own. Should he try to help them or himself? Maybe he can do both? Implied Lapidot. Post SU Future Finale.
Relationships: Connie Maheswaran/Steven Universe, Lapis Lazuli/Peridot (Steven Universe)
Comments: 2
Kudos: 43





	1. Just a Nightmare

**Author's Note:**

> Hey everyone! Just thought I'd make my own quick story of something I feel would have happened after Steven Universe Future's Finale. Although it was great I feel like they left a few things unresolved, one of them being Lapis and Peridot's relationship. I was hoping I could write a story that could sorta rectify that while making it feel organic to the show's usual storytelling. Anyway, I hope you like it.

It was like any other time he went into his garden. First he started with watering the flowers, then moved onto the leafy plants, then the small little apple tree in the corner before sprinkling the freshly sprouting vegetables in the soil. Of course there was a reason why he saved these ones for last. He didn't want to have to deal with… her yet. He knew she needed his care but… who knew when she would get enraged again. It reminded him too much of his past self and he wasn't entirely ready to approach that yet.

"Okay, buddy," a 17-year old Steven Universe said calmly as he cautiously approached the slightly shriveled but car-sized orange veggie in front of him. "I'm just gonna give you a little bit of water, alright?" The crop didn't respond to him, just continued breathing laboriously. The half-gem carefully poured a few drops of water from his dispenser onto the pumpkin's thirsty leaves, and everything seemed to be going well. "There we go, I know this is what you nee-," Steven soothed too soon. Without warning, the oversized produce howled in pain and erupted vines everywhere, encompassing Steven, trampling the rest of the garden and shattering the glass to the greenhouse.

No. NONONO! This is exactly what he was afraid would happen. Not again, he thought he was past this! Why is she still reacting so aggressively to things she needs? He didn't mean to hurt her the first time! He healed her, why isn't that enough? He tried using his gem powers to break free but the vines were too strong even for him, or, maybe he'd just become weaker? They started molding together and form vaguely humanoid shapes around him, which looked a little familiar. One was shorter and had a diamond-looking head and the other was taller and had wing-like appendages. Then they started talking to him in gravelly voices, "WhYyyy wERen'T yOu tHErrRE, STeeeVennN?" "Sssshhhhe cOUld'Ve BeeN sssAaaaavvvVED."

"I'm sorry! There was nothing I could do! Pumpkins just don't last very long!" Steven tried to plea as the vines started pulling him towards the wailing mouth of the now house-sized pumpkin. But the vine shapes either didn't hear him or refused to listen as they continued to cry out phrases along a similar vein as before. Steven continued to try talking to the voracious vegetables but his cries fell upon deaf ears as he was dragged closer and closer to the gaping maw of the pumpkin.

Just before he was engulfed by the pumpkin's dark mouth he heard the vine humanoids cry out, almost as if they were in pain, "HOW CAN WE FIX OUR RELATIONSHIP WITHOUT HER?!" And everything went dark for a split second before Steven woke up in a cold sweat gasping for breath. He sighed in relief when he realized it was just a dream and collapsed back onto the bed, still exhausted. He looked at his phone and saw it was only 6 in the morning. Still earlier than he needed to be up but he honestly didn't think he'd be able to fall asleep again.

This was the fifth night in a row he'd had a dream like this. At this point he was wondering why he hadn't gotten used to it yet. It was only then that he noticed he was glowing pink. He panicked only for a slight second before taking deep, cleansing breaths, filtering out his anxiety from his system. Thankfully it didn't take long for his body to return to its normal, non-glowy Steven form. He'd been seeing his therapist for over a year now and things had been going really well. However, his therapist had recently noticed that Steven was starting to relapse a little in his PTSD, which she said was perfectly normal, but in Steven's case could clearly prove to be disastrous. He knew he needed to get it under control soon, he definitely didn't want a repeat of his last meltdown.

Suddenly his phone started to ring, making him jump slightly. That startlement quickly gave way to a warm smile however when he saw who was calling. Connie's name was in bright white letters and her beautiful smiling face was just waiting for him to push the button and answer her. He eagerly answered her call with a joyous, "Hey Connie! What's up?"

"Steven! So glad you answered! Sorry I know it's early but I just had to check in on you!" Connie Maheswaran replied in that melodic soprano voice that made Steven's heart melt and jolt at the same time.

"Yeah it's no problem, Connie. I was awake anyway," Steven returned coolly.

"Really? Why's that?"

"Well, it was that nightmare again." One thing that Steven had learned through his therapy sessions was that he needed to let his loved ones know what was bothering him whenever these types of situations occurred instead of bottling it up like he'd done before. He already told Connie the troubling dream he'd been having lately and she'd used Lion to visit whenever she was able to in order to try and help him feel better.

"Oh geez, I'm sorry, Steven," Connie answered with a melancholy tone.

"Aw it's alright, sweetie," Steven returned, knowing the pet name made her blush on the other side of the phone, because it certainly made his face flush red. "You've already been helping me out a lot in this. I really appreciate it."

"Well that's good. I'm always happy to help in any way I can." Steven had to push down the thought " _Because then I would turn into a monster again and put you and everyone else in danger._ " He knew that wasn't the real reason why but that nasty side of him would occasionally poke its face out from the back of his head.

"Anyway, I'm so excited to see you when I get back into Beach City this afternoon!" Steven exclaimed. The phone was silent for a second. "...Connie?"

"Well, that was actually another reason why I wanted to call you. It looks like I won't actually be able to see you until tomorrow. Dad's away on a business trip and Mom came home last night after being in the hospital for three days straight and just passed out onto the couch. I literally had to carry her up to her room, you should've seen it," Connie chuckled slightly to herself before continuing. "I know it's really last minute and a huge inconvenience for us but I have to look after her for today. I'm really sorry, trust me I was excited to see you again today, too."

"Oh, Connie, it's nothing to worry about," Steven assured. "I understand, Dr. Maheswaran definitely deserves that day off."

"You sure?"

"100%, no lies." Why did it sting a little that he needed to reassure her like that?

"Okay, if you say so, I believe you," Connie answered. "Well, I better go, Mom's gonna need someone to make her breakfast, or lunch, depending on when she wakes up." Steven laughed before saying his goodbyes to his girlfriend and hanging up.

He flopped back onto his bed for a minute, pondering this new issue. It wasn't the fact that Connie couldn't see him that day, it was because she was so nervous to let him know. Was it because of his past experiences of when he nearly hurt everyone? Did she feel like she needed to walk on eggshells around him? Was she afraid he'd snap again at the slightest inconvenience? No, Connie's smart and sensitive enough to know better. But… what if it was just a subconscious thing she was doing _because_ she was so smart and sensitive? Just like how Steven still subconsciously thinks the way he does? He quickly shook those thoughts out of his head, he knew better than to fall for those doubts. But he could tell he hadn't truly gotten rid of them, they were still lurking in the back of his skull, and all he could do was ignore them for the time being.

The half-gem boy decided he'd rested enough. With new determination he walked to the bathroom, washed his face, brushed the morning breath out of his teeth and put on a fresh set of clothes. Blue star shirt, jeans, pink varsity jacket, flip flops, you know, the norm. After getting some continental breakfast from the hotel he'd stayed at for the night, Steven was now a man on a mission. He was less than two hours away from Beach City and he couldn't wait to get back to everyone and spend time with his family again. He only hoped the gems were ready for him.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So what did you think? Feel like it fits in well with the Steven Universe story? Anything you think I should improve on? Be sure to comment and I'll be sure to update soon in return. Catch ya later! :)


	2. Back in Beach City

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey everyone! So here’s the next chapter, this one’s a bit shorter since it’s mostly just about Steven getting back to Beach City. I know it’s not much but we’ll be getting into the meat of the story in the next one, I promise! Anyway, on with the chapter!

Thirty minutes away. Steven was getting excited now, he tapped his hand on the steering wheel to the beat of “Mr. Universe”, his dad’s all time favorite song. At first he was afraid that he’d be jaded with the track due to the experience he had involving it, but since being on the road he’s actually come to like it a lot. He’d even started to affiliate it with his own experiences on this journey. 

Oh! That reminded him! He pulled out his phone and dialed Greg Universe’s contact. The call rang for a few seconds before his father picked up. “Hey Dad!” Steven greeted as soon as Greg answered his call.

“Hey Schtuball! How’s the trek?” Greg responded in turn.

“Great!” I’m half an hour from Beach City! I can’t wait to see you there!”

“Oh geez, you’re going to be there already?” his father asked rather dejectedly.

“What is it?” Steven questioned in concern. Was he not excited to see him?

“Well, this is really bad timing but one of the wheels on the tour bus suddenly exploded a couple minutes ago and we’re basically stranded in the middle of nowhere. I just called a tow truck but they weren’t able to give us an estimate on how long it’ll take for them to get out here and patch everything up. So it’ll probably be a while before we can get home. I’m sorry, bud. I know you were expecting us to be there when you got back.”

Steven nodded solemnly. Sadie and the Killers had been on tour again for a couple months now and they were supposed to get home today along with Greg, who was their manager. He’d been really looking forward to greeting his dad when he got home but he didn’t find any point in complaining about something that was clearly out of both of their control. “It’s okay, Dad, these things happen.”

“Are you sure? I can try and call for a cab or something if you need me to be there when you get home,” Greg replied with a somewhat wary tone.

“No no, Dad. The Killers need you more than I do right now. Take care of them first before you come to take care of me.” There it was again. That same overly cautious vibe in his dad that he was getting from Connie earlier. 

“Okay, son,” Greg assured. “I’ll keep you posted on what’s going on and give you a timeframe when I can.”

“Sounds good, Dad. I’ll see you soon. Love you, bye.” Steven hung up his phone and inhaled deeply. This definitely wasn’t turning out to be a very good morning. He turned Mr. Universe off absentmindedly, the song was starting to irritate him. Why was everyone being so weird around him? He thought they’d moved past the corruption incident by now, he knew he had. Hadn’t he? Maybe coming home wasn’t such a good idea after all...

Thankfully a familiar view blasted that mindset away before it could fester in his head for too long. He stuck his head out the window with a huge smile on his face as he saw the welcoming sight of the Temple’s cliff and a quaint little town beneath it. He breathed in the salty sea air and the rush of nostalgia hit him like one of Jasper's fists. Any doubts he had were being washed away as he increased his speed towards his old home.

He drove into the relatively busy tourist town with excitement. Hardly anything seemed to have changed at first glance. Funland was still bustling with human and gem activity, Fish Stew Pizza still had customers eating the delicious pies, Beach Citywalk Fries still had the Frymans running the joint, and Mayor Pizza still patrolled the town with her loyal Ruby guards. It looked like Amethyst’s job assignment had paid off for the gems in town, the place was thriving as much as ever and everyone he saw seemed to be having a good time.

Steven didn’t think his smile could get any bigger as he drove past each familiar block. Quite a few people recognized him and shouted his name along with an ecstatic wave, and he responded to them with an equally elated honk or wave back. He was definitely happy to see them, but truth be told he wasn’t actually there for them. He was headed for the beach, back to his old house, back to his family. Garnet, Amethyst and Pearl. He was certain they’d be so happy to see him.

Or at least he was almost certain. Truth be told he hadn’t actually told them he was coming back, he was saving it as a surprise. But hey, considering how broken up they were when he left he figured they’d be happier than any beings in the universe at the sight of him home. He made the last corner around the temple and finally saw the beloved house/temple where he grew up in its full glory. He could feel his eyes starting to well up but he shook them away, he wasn’t about to start crying now.

Steven parked his car and stepped out, glad to finally stop sitting and stretch his legs at long last. However, he wasted no time to rush up the creaky wooden steps and burst through the front door, fully expecting the Gems to be standing there with a surprised expression on their faces. However, the only thing he was greeted to was a bare house and a slightly leaky faucet in the kitchen. Huh.

This was weird. Maybe they were upstairs? Steven dashed up to where his old room was to find it empty too. Perhaps they were in their respective rooms? He entered the temple’s door and scoured every room it had to offer, still not finding a trace of anyone. They had to be in the dome then, right? He again searched every place of his former greenhouse to find it barren of any gem life.

Well that’s slightly disappointing. Steven could feel the excitement draining from his body with every step he took now. This whole day was going down the flusher in a spiral, that was for sure. They didn’t even think to leave a note or anything? But then he remembered they really wouldn’t have had any reason to since no one else lived there anymore besides Greg, who wasn’t even home at the moment, so he felt kinda silly for even thinking about it.

With nothing left to do Steven exited the house, plopping down on the front of the steps with his head in his hands. Where _was_ everyone? Why was the universe out to get him today, of all days? He looked up and noticed the spinning structure on a particularly tall building in the distance. The half-gem boy instantly perked up. That’s right! Little Homeworld! Maybe the Gems were there! Heck, he could even see Bismuth, Lapis and Peridot while he was at it! He ran back towards town, deciding to leave his car parked in front of the house, and took off towards his new destination.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So it looks like everyone’s being overly cautious or straight up avoiding Steven. Will the same happen when he gets back to Little Homeworld? Well you’ll just have to wait for the next one to find out. ;) Until then, thanks for reading!


End file.
